Japanese persimmons

I should have persimmons to harvest about now, but don't, thanks to some sort of voracious herbivore (the fruits would have been VERY astringent when they disappeared.

The small tree that had produced them came with us to the Piedmont over twenty years ago.  I've written about that journey and its atftermath before.

Persimmon fruits (on an old tree)

It struggled quite a bit in its early years, and has never been truly robust, but often has produced 20-30 fruits.

That's what what it looked like would happen this year.  HMM. Deer, squirrels, woodchucks?  Very puzzling.